StephenFord

One of my great great great grandfathers was from Caithness - a man called Gavin Jack (1789-1860). His family was from Canisbay. He was a harbour pilot at Wick, but died a pauper living in Kinnaird Street, Old Wick (formerly Pulteneytown).

I think it had a completely new frontage, early 60s I guess, but it wasn't a total rebuild (and indeed, as my mum did her weekly grocery shopping there, I'm pretty sure it stayed open during the major operations). We lived on Roosevelt Avenue from 1954 until I got married in 1981, and my mum lived there until she died in 2000. The station was Sawley Junction until, I think, 1968 - I worked on the railway at Derby works, and my first year's residential free pass was between "Sawley Junction and Derby" - the following year it became "Long Eaton and Derby". The Trent north curve branched off to t

The bus - DRR10 - is West Bridgford UDC fleet no. 14 (It is pure co-incidence that it is also operating on route 14). It is a 1937 AEC Regent with body supplied by Park Royal. It survived in service until 1960. The route 14 (joint with NCT of course) ran to Brockley Road, turning off Radcliffe Road into Abbey Road and Davies Road, returning via Eltham Road and Abbey Road. I seem to remember WB buses on the 14 tended to show "Gamston Bridge" as the destination. It was the 12 that went along Trent Boulevard, finishing at Seymour Road.

New Sawley Co-op was on the left of Tamworth Road, about 150 yards after going under the railway bridge at what was then called Sawley Junction station. I think its still a co-op shop now, but of course it was all knocked together into one many years ago.

The November 1971 NCT timetable has a list of fares for "Player's Works midday services". At the time this was 7p to Arnold Library or Daybrook Square (No.20?), 6p to Edwards Lane/Mansfield Road and 7p to Valley Road/Mansfield Road (No.2?). Other midday service fares shown are Fairnley Road 7p, Bulwell Market 7p, Dulverton Vale/Broxtowe Lane 6p, Bracebridge Drive 6p, Exbourne Road 5p, Scalford Drive 5p, Denton Green 5p, Northern Baths 5p, Enthorpe Street 5p, Western Boulevard/Beechdale Road 4p, Lenton Sands Junction 3p, North Gate 3p.

Do you remember that a lot of the co-op shops had a central cashier, and all the different departments were connected to her by an aerial despatch system. They put your money and check in the container, clipped it onto the carriage and pulled a handle which sent it whizzing off along the wire to the cashier's desk. She would then put your change into the container and send it back. The New Sawley co-op consisted of about 4 shops in a row, with the fishmongers at the extreme end. If you were waiting in the butcher's you got fish "expresses" hurtling out of a hole in the wall on one side of the

I also miss the OMS toilets - they were quite palatial in a subterranean sort of way - and "high capacity" if you know what I mean. On the other hand, from the pong I remember (without any nostalgic longing at all!) I don't think they can have been very well managed.

The No.1 (and 7 and 22) moved about a bit at the city end. Until (I think) about 1948 they started on the north side of the Old Market Square (as shown on the 1940s map elsewhere on this site). Then they moved to the much lamented Hanley Street. Finally, by 1971 and perhaps quite a bit earlier, they had flitted again to Maid Marion Way. When they lived at Hanley Street of course, they started UP Wollaton Street (which was two way in them days) as far as Canning Circus, which was a simple roundabout. In othe other direction they came down Talbot Street. The trolleybus routes were as follows :

Ah - now you've said Bennets, I do remember. It had a very pleasant characteristic sweet smell to it, and I seem to remember Mrs Bennet as the right sort of person to be selling that sort of goodies! Not sure about the bike shop - I'm sure there was a lad in my class at Whitemoor who lived over that shop. I thought his name was John Frearson, but I could be wrong - and even if I'm not they might not have had anything to do with the business down below. Now I'm racking my brains to think of the toys and electrical shop - it's on the tip of my tongue...got it : Lee and Goodjohn!

I only vaguely remember the sweet shop. It was my impression that we usually bought sweets from Pinkett's but I may be wrong. There was also a little sweet shop on the left going up High Street, and on my way back from school, my mam would often buy me two ounces (!) of sherbert limes - loose out of the big glass jars. Yes, I guess it could have been the same Miss Maltby - or there may have been more than one sister. I used to think it strange that there were so many elderly unmarried lady teachers in the early 50s. Then someone pointed out to me that a lot of them lost their boy friends or f

There was a notice on a lot of the buses with a picture of a bell push, which said something like this "Push Once only to stop the bus. The starting of the vehicle is restricted to the conductor." Compo - yes I think all of the post war buses had 3 ceiling mounted bells (and yes, I think the dark circle in the ceiling is one). However do you remember the pre-war buses all had the bell pushes mounted over the right hand windows, and the conductor had to lean over the passengers to ring the bell. On some of them (the 1939 Metro Cammells I think) the bells were a big plunger about an inch and a

No, "Piggy Lane" was the footpath shown dead opposite High Street. Funny thing - when we were coming home from town we invariably got off the bus at the High Street stop in front of the shops, but when we were going TO town we would never dream of turning left at the bottom of Aslockton Drive and waiting at the corresponding stop outside the Newcastle Arms - it was always turn right and wait at the timeclock in front of Pinketts. When I started school in January 1954 I used to walk up High Street and down Hayling Drive to Whitemoor Infants. Does anyone remember Miss Maltby, my first form teach

82646 [pronounced EIGHT two six FOUR six] until we moved to Long Eaton, which was a different Co-op society, when it became 13951. My grandmother's was 45664 (which incidentally, was also the number of a Jubilee class loco "Nelson".)

Yes I can - and for that reason our family always referred to the said bridle path as "Piggy Lane". It didn't 'alf pong at times!

When we lived on Aslockton Drive up to 1954 I remember seeing NCB steam engines with a few wagons crossing Melbourne Road with a flagman in attendance and then prowling off down the back of Nuthall Road shops to the Newcastle colliery sidings. There was a bridle path from Nuthall Road that led over an unprotected crossing to Melbourne Park.

I seem to remember there were two ramblers' trains on Sunday mornings. The first was about 9.30 for Edale, and at least in the 1950s it didn't actually go into Sheffield (which had a regular service to Edale anyway). But it did go through Derby, and there was usually much scrummage for seats there. After Chesterfield, it took the spur onto the Hope Valley line, then heading through Totley tunnel. The sequence of drop off stations was (and still is) Grindleford, Hathersage, Bamford, Hope and Edale. The second train was about 9.45. It also called at Derby, then I think Ambergate and all stations

Many of the Ultimates were printed by "HUNT NOTTM" - which was Hunt and Colleys on Hucknall Road, left hand side just north of Haydn Road. I had an uncle who worked in the wages inspectorate of the then Ministry of Labour. He had cause to send some sort of enquiry regarding the company, and being a comparatively small firm the managing director himself completed it. One of the questions asked for "Main and any subsidiary businesses of the company" to which this chap replied "Main business : filling in ****** stupid government forms; subsidiary business : printing tickets for the transport indu

Trevor S, the Skills service ran to East Bridgford via Radcliffe and Shelford. It was operated jointly with Trent where it was route 73 and 73A (I'm not sure what the difference was). Skills had weird tickets with a list of fares down each side and the conductor chopped a section out of it opposite the fare paid, with a purpose-made guillotine machine that retained the cuttings. I presume some unfortunate nerd then had to count the bits in order to reconcile the money!

Hi Compo, Glad to know I'm not the only one with a fetish about the interior lights in buses. I lived on the 1/7/22 route until I was 5 and remember those shell reflectors in the "Roberts" Regent IIIs. I thought I would never find a picture of one (and I am sorry to see that the Park Royal at Ruddington has lost them - although they were always mounted upside down in them - as they were in the 6 wheel trolleybuses. But the other night I found an interior picture of the preserved four-wheeler trolleybus at Sandtoft, and there on the front bulkhead is what I had been looking for. http://www.flic

The WB overprinted tickets were used on NCT buses for journeys that were entirely in West Bridgford. The "Ultimate" ticket machines held five separate rolls, and on the West Bridgford joint services one track was loaded with these 1d tickets. It was to do with revenue allocation between the City and West Bridgford operators. West Bridgford UDC had machines that printed fares with a letter at the end - C for journeys wholly in the City, T for through journeys from the City to WB or vice versa, and W for wholly in West Bridgford.

And a fly can't bird, but a bird can fly ! (Not original - AA Milne)

Funny thing is, the old Mount Street had three platforms, and they were numbered 4, 5 and 6. No, don't ask me - I haven't a clue what happened to 1, 2 and 3. No.4 was for Midland General/Notts & Derby (blue buses). 5 was for Bartons, plus the Trent no.8 so that all Derby buses went from the same platform, and also the Midland General F9. No.6 was for Trent plus the Midland Red X99. Bartons no.s 10, 11, 32 and 33 used Granby Street, just a few yards away, instead.

Found the same photo published in a book, and it says January 1940.

Fascinating! About 1946 I guess from the lack of development of Bilborough etc. Some of the routes bring back memories. The 57 to Arnold via Redhill Road was previously part of the 4/4A which ran to/from Beeston. Likewise the 3 ran through from Radford Addington Road to Sneinton Dale. The Radford end became the 58. I think these changes took place about 1952/3. I notice that the 9 to Mapperley Haywood Road was still running via "Thorneywood Lane" - now Porchester Road, while a variant 9A occupied the route it later took - Gordon Road/Thorneywood Mount. I notice the 17 terminus in Bulwell is ca

Don't think it was anything to do with the fire - just Barton's usual (and very fascinating) habit of obtaining second hand buses from here, there and everywhere - and often enough rebuilding them afterwards. They used a few of these ex-London RTLs (they were all Leyland engine buses) on our Long Eaton - Ilkeston route 15. They worked turn and turn about with various other Leylands which came from Leicester, Halifax (I think) and other places - even a few that they bought new!